Archive for January, 2010

WHILLANS ICE STREAM, ANTARCTICA-- There are two basic projects that we are working on through our field work in Antarctica. One is looking at changes in the ice surface motion through time. To do this we make three types of GPS measurement... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– This video shows the mechanics of putting 14,000 feet of drill pipe into the water beneath the ship. Quite an operation to watch with everyone performing as though a cast member in a complicated ballet production... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– So, guess what? We had to abandon our first drill hole, the one I wrote about yesterday. Turned out we had drilled into a massive body of sand, gravel, and big rocks... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– What an exciting day! After 2 days on site we have retrieved our first real core. The problem last night was that the seabed was so rocky and hard that it broke our bottommost drill pipes when we hit... {Read More »}

BECKER POINT, ANTARCTICA-- Our second field camp was on the continent itself – dirt! I have to say that I prefer camping on the sea ice, but this late in the season, the likelihood of warm days and slushy surfaces would make that a distinctly wet possibility... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION, OFF THE COAST OF WILKES LAND, ANTARCTICA– Here we see our very first try at drilling a hole in the seafloor 3800 meters below the ship – the first real work of the expedition and the first time any attempt has been made to drill at this spot... {Read More »}

ABOARD THE JOIDES RESOLUTION-- We are getting ready to retrieve the first section of a sediment core ever taken from of this site, Wilkes Land! The whole ship is abuzz with excitement. Everyone is awake to see what we will get... {Read More »}